Photo Credit: milanmk.com
Desi girls love eyeliner. Whether it’s black, brown, turquoise, liquid, gel or pencil, it has found its way into all of our makeup bags. Some girls prefer to look traditional like Kareena, while others like a much lighter look similar to that of Angelina Jolie, who only uses it on her upper eyes. I find myself leaning towards the old “less is more” rule, but that’s my personal preference. Whichever way you prefer to wear your liner, remember that it doesn’t have to be a complicated process, especially with one of my favorite makeup tools of all time – the smudge brush.
Photo Credit: laura mercier .com
As you can tell from the name, the brush is used mainly to smudge liners and shadows, extremely useful when creating the smoky eye look. If you feel like your eyeliner is too dark, you can easily blend it out with this brush. However, the focus of this particular post is to share with you how to apply basic eyeliner quickly and efficiently in less than 5 minutes. Also, for girls who have shaky hands or just don’t know how to draw a straight line, this one’s for you.
There are several types of smudge brushes out there. It honestly depends on what you would like the brush for. If you are looking for one solely for liner, I prefer the one by Laura Mercier. The bristles are thickly packed together and it is a little smaller than other brands’ brushes, which allows for precision. If you want the brush for the smoky eye look, try out the double-ended one from Smashbox. However, all smudge brushes can be used for either, so it really is a matter of preference.
Following is a quick tutorial on how to use the smudge brush for eyeliner application:
Step 1: Start with your basic bare eye. If you wear foundation or concealer, now is the time to apply it. You will probably need to go back and add a little more concealer at the end, but for now you need a base to start with.
Step 2: Apply your eyeliner. As you can see, I used a pencil and the result is messy. Don’t worry, that is the point. You don’t need to spend ten minutes being precise (note the space between the lash lines and the actual liner); we will fix that in a minute.
Step 3: Take your smudge brush and place it on the liner. I prefer to go from inner eye to outer for the top lashes, and outer to inner for the bottom lashes. It’s easier for me to shape my specific eyes this way. It’s a preference but not a rule, do whatever feels comfortable to you.
Start to smudge and shape the liner with the brush. For the upper lashes, pull the liner down toward the lash line with the brush in a light tugging motion. You can also pull from left to right and vice versa. Do the same for the lower lashes, however, this time pull the liner up toward the last line. Wiggle your brush between your lashes to get the color between them.
Step 4: Now that you have the basic eyeliner on, you will probably find it’s a little thick. You now need to shape it and remove excess liner.
Lightly wet a cotton swab. Under the eye: Place the swab under the liner and swipe it from the inner corner to the outer to make the line thinner and remove excess liner. Eyelid: Do the same, starting at the top of the liner at the eye’s inner corner and swipe it toward the outer corner. You may need to use more than one swab to prevent faint streaks. Use another cottron swab to lightly dab concealer under the bottom lash line to cover any dark skin showing through from cleaning the liner.
Step 5: Add mascara, et voilà, you’re good to go.
Lastly, as I mentioned before, if you feel your eyeliner is too dark, smudge along the actual line of the eyeliner and the color will lighten up substantially.
If you have smaller eyes, I would not recommend completely lining the underside of your bottom lash line, as it will make your eyes seem smaller. If you would still like the traditional black liner look, then line your 1/3 of your bottom lash line from the outside in. Proceed to smudge and blend the liner so it isn’t too harsh against the side of the under eye that has no liner. Not having the black liner all around your lashes will give your eyes a more open look.
Final Tip: The heavier you go with the eyeliner, the lighter your lipstick should be. Too many ladies out there are wearing the Kareena eyes from above with dark lipstick. Dark eyes and dark lips is very harsh look and let’s be honest, just scary looking!
Like every new makeup technique it may take a couple of tries before you perfect your own method. Trust me, once you do, you will never let go of this vital makeup tool.
i agree, the black eyeliner red lipstick look must not be allowed. this is amazing! thanks for the pictorial. i use laura mercier’s smoky eye liner brush, it is an extremely pointy brush- i would not be able to do my eye make up without it. perhaps people could try that one too. it works wonders for me.
by the way, i was wondering, where did you buy/obtain your first laura mercier smudge brush from?!
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here is the link for the brush (as per sadia’s suggestion) http://tiny.cc/UugMy
available at any large dept store as well as sephora.
in london- harvey nicks carried laura mercier brushes.
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I have medium eyes and they are green and I love the kareena look. As I have grown up with my mother, with her blue eyes going for that look. I like the traditional thick kajol-ed look. Yet I was wondering how to make it more subtle? Use a brown kajol? What will be a better option? I also have dark circles, strangely so the heavily kajol-ed eyes detract from the circles. Makes sense?
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What eye pencil do you recommend? This pictorial is fab, btw!
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lipstick masala advised me to use mac pot eyeliner eyeliner with the mac brush 209 or 210 (i put along the waterline of my eye). i also use clinique’s kohl shaper for eyes. it runs in the summer though. but v creamy and as dark as real kohl.
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try graphic by mac, it’s perfect!!!
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Benefit sells a pencil eyeliner which is not only waterproof (which means it lasts all day on the waterline) but has a smudger on the other side.
http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Benefit+1.2g+BADgal+liner+waterproof/119363351,default,pd.html?cm_mmc=affiliates-_-google-_-feed-_-beauty
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i like the look of jolie. naice!
ps next time u need an eye pupil model, im sooo down.
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AF, as sos mentioned below, I actually don’t like using pencil, I haven’t found one that I like enough. I feel that all pencils end up smudging on my skin, I’m a big fan of fluidline but mostly I actually use MAC Carbon eyeshadow as a liner. It looks amazing!
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Sydra, I actually love the black eyeliner look with green eyes! The stark contrast is beautiful. If it’s too much, you can definitely lighten the color by smudging it with the brush, or a qtip if that’s easier. If you would like a more subtle look, and if you’re brave you should try plum colored eye liner, it actually looks really good. Now, I’m usually not a fan of purple (as you can probably tell by my last post), but in this case it definitely works, and is an in color for the Spring. Also, if you want to stick to basic shades, I would get a low key bronze liner (there are ones that are not sparkly and safe for work), it’ll bring out the hazel tones of your eyes.
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some random chick gave it to me
p.s. i have my eye on your smokey eye brush too.
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Lipstick Masala Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 9:41 am
Nabiha, I’ve heard a LOT about his brushes but never used one personally. Is there any one in particular you would recommend to try out as a starting point?
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sydra, also try navy blue eyeliner. lancome makes a great one, it’s for the not too harsh kajol look.
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i LOVED the post! Never used a smudge brush but that is def. going to be on my “to buy” list!
I use the Le Crayon Khôl Waterproof by Lancome in Black. Have been using it for the past 5 years and never complained about it. And every friend I have recommended it to loves it as well!
I have always wanted to try liquid eye liner…but I don’t like it when it looks glossy (more like a plastic!). Any recommendations??
I can’t believe I didn’t know about lipstickmasala! I
(fyi: I am advertising lipstickmasala on FB now, just so you know:) )
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the darker the black the more dramatic the eyeliner looks! I work with Lancome but I can say I am not totally in love with our waterproof eyeliners…they smudge to easy! however they are really good to create a smoky eye with…the smudger on the end of the pencil is great for this. I prefer gel eyeliner for a night time dramatice look. Bobbi Brown makes a great one and it does not smudge or move once you apply it!
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thank you for the support!!! that is so sweet of you
i just started it last week, i would love any suggestions you have on what you would like to see on the site. Also, the lancome pencil is what i used in this post, do you feel like yours smudges vey easily? i don’t have oily skin at all, so i don’t know why it does that!
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in the post above, i discussed the same thing with sarah re: the smudging of the lancome kohls. i’ve never tried them for a smoky eye – will have to experiment! also, i’ve been using MAC fluidline for a few years, but i definitely want to try out the bobbi.
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i would rather use you as a cheek model, you have amazing bone structure.
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sadaf, i can’t seem to find that on the MAC website, is it a fluidline or a pencil?
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is the lancome one the cream liner? or am i thinking of chanel?
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i’ve heard a LOT about the benefit eyeliner. a pencil that lasts on the waterline? i definitely have to check it out!
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i have to admit it does smudge a little…so i carry qtip in my make up bag all the time to wipe off the unnecessary smudging!
i have used mac and estee lauder eye liners before…i liked them lesser than lancome! so i am sticking to the lancome one for now.
i wonder how I would line my eyes with an eyeshadow! Must be an art! Never tried it! I would be worried that it will be smudged all over my eye in course of time and i will look like i have a black eye. (usually thats what it looks like when I try to do smoky eyes!)
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YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!! The only thing I EVER like in terms of make-up, like EVER, IS the eye-liner look, i guess it’s the desi girl in me, and I have ALWAYS wondered how girls do it!! THANKSSSSSSSSSS MARSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
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stila kajal liner is also good…i use black but they have other colors too…it’s really creamy and easy to apply! i too love mac carbon but the smudging brush i have isn’t cutting it…will check out laura mercier.
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sorry I got the name wrong it’s Graphblack, technakohl liner by MAC. It works wonders for me. I use it to line the inside and use it on my eyelids as well.
I am also a big fan of Carbon but can never manage to use it as eyeliner
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Essential Makeup Tools: The Smudge Brush « Lipstick Masala great article thank you
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Essential Makeup Tools: The Smudge Brush « Lipstick Masala great article thank you
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it’s a pencil eyeliner, in navy blue, by lancome.
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how do you prevent the liner (on the top lash) from imprinting itself on the top of the eyelid? i find that even if I have a base or powder I inevitably get a shadowy arc of eyeliner transferring onto my lid…any suggestions?
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ZHC, I completely agree that base and powder underneath are useless. However, if you set the actual liner with powder shadow (MAC Carbon is my favorite) you’ll find the top of the liner is less oily and therefore less susceptible to transferring onto your lid. This has worked for me, but I will definitely look into some more cures for this problem, as it seems to be a problem many run into.
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i wanna smudge brush sooo bad. I keep stalking it in Selfridges hahaha
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i personally think the kevyn aucoin brushes are the very best.ever tried them?
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